"This is the 32nd year for Humphreys and we’ve been working with John seven years," Bartell noted.

"Over the years, we’ve developed an excellent relationship, both personally and professionally. We really like John and very much enjoy our relationship with AEG. He understands the Humphreys psyche and has an excellent sense of what he thinks would work for us. After dong concerts for 32 years, we also have a very good idea of what would be successful at Humphreys. And the combination of John and our staff, led by Bobbi Brieske, our concert manager, provides an excellent chemistry."

Perhaps the biggest booking coup this season is Steely Dan, which will perform at Humphreys Aug. 21. The jazz-inspired rock band’s most recent tour, in 2011, bypassed San Diego in favor of two dates at the 5,700-seat Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

“Steely Dan is the perfect band for Humphreys and I think the show will go clean,” said Wojas, predicting a quick sell-out despite the $155 ticket price, an all-time Humphreys high.

Bartell agreed. “Steely Dan had always been on our bucket list,” he said.

“If we’re going to be competitive, we have to pay them essentially what they would get at a much larger venue. This year, we’re going on sale with 48 shows, two more than last year, and we expect to have presented 60 shows by the end of the year.

“We are always striving to bring back the perennial favorites, such as Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald and Chris Isaak. But we also always try to bring new acts to the Humphreys stage, so that we can introduce Humphreys to concertgoers who have never been here before. Of the 48 shows that we currently have booked, there are 27 artists who have never played at Humphrey’s before.”

Last year, 26 artists drew sell-out crowds at Humphreys, including Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Seal and Crosby Stills & Nash. As for the 27 artists making their debuts at the venue in 2013, they are certifiably new to Humphreys, but not to any music fans who came of age between the 1960s and 1990s.

That’s because no fewer than 14 of the bands and solo artists who will be making their debuts at the bayside venue this year are appearing as part of various package tours. The lineups of these tours feature artists whose commercial heydays date back two decades ago or longer.

The Sumerland Tour, which stops at Humphreys on July 2, teams four bands that rose to varying degrees of prominence in the 1990s — Everclear, Live, Filter and Sponge.

The July 30 Rock ‘N’ Blues Fest features Ten Years After, Edgar Winter Band, Canned Heat and Pat Travers, each of which achieved commercial prominence in either the 1960s or 1970s.

And the Aug. 28 Regeneration Tour harkens back to the English synth-pop scene of the late 1970s and 1980s, with The Human League, Howard Jones (presumably minus the mime who once acted out his songs lyrics on stage) and Andy Bell of Erasure.